EXHIBITION AT SABRINA AMRANI GALLERY (8 Jun - 30 Jul, 2016) Fugitive, the Second Solo Show by Nicène Kossentini

The show 'Fugitive' marks Kossentini's a return to drawing and to aquarelle. While on a residency in Casa Árabe Córdoba, the artist spent time in Córdoba’s Great Mosque, which inspired her to borrow from Islamic geometry and architectural patterns’ aesthetics, so evident in several of her pieces. Inspired by the liquid aspect of water, the works are embedded in movement and in introspection; created through a very immersive process, they speak of continual change, absence and loss. The show includes also a video, 'The Poem'.

The video 'The Poem' addresses the paradox of expression, including the subtle links between spoken word and silence. Superimposed over a static shot of the sea, a mouth utters something unintelligible. The voice is lost despite the lips moving and clenching, replaced by the raw sound of ebb and flow. For Kossentini, turning to the sea is a way to explore the migratory experience from the perspective of homeland loss. If water saves and promises a new life, it also erases and swallows the old existence. The crossing becomes inseparable from estrangement, alienation and distance.

The diptych 'Tawq al-Hamamah'

The diptych 'Tawq al-Hamamah' (The Ring of the Dove) shows Kossentini's passion for Arabic literature, poetry and philosophy. It is a copy of an excerpt written around 1022 by great thinker Ibn Hazm of Córdoba – one of the artist’s favourite book.The letters gently dissolve as being carried by the wind.

Nicene Kossentini, Tawq Al Hamamah / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicene Kossentini, Tawq Al Hamamah, detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

'The Errant'

In the drawing series 'The Errant' the artist is dealing with loss and movement. Islamic geometry inspired the artist to creates complex squares, circles, stars, and polygons in her organic aquarelles, from delicate blue-grey shades, to green and brick-red again, like the colours of the arches of Córdoba’s Great Mosque. Fluid surfaces in motion flow over a soft preliminary sketch, playing with order and disorder as seen in 'The Errant / Moment 3' and 'The Errant / Moment 1'.

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 1) / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 1), detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 2) / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 2), detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 3) / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 3), detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 3), detail 2 / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 4) / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 4) detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 5) / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 5) detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 6) / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini, The Errant (Moment 6) detail / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Installation views of the Exhibition

'Fugitive' could puzzle the connoisseurs of Kossentini’s work, but there is a strong connection with her other series. She prioritises slowness and patience; concentration and seeing. She resorts to repetition to expose the connection between what we perceive and what we surmise. Her minimalist creations point to the essential and try to capture what is changing or disappearing.

Installation view / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Installation view / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Installation view / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Installation view / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Nicène Kossentini

Nicène Kossentini (1976) recently had a retrospective solo exhibition at Muratcentoventidue, Bari (Italy) and currently participates in the group show Effervescence at the Institut des Cultures d'Islam in Paris (France) and in the exhibition Lucy's Iris, curated by Orlando Britto-Jinorio at the MUSAC in León (Spain); which will tour in July to the Musée Departemental de Rochechouart (France) and to the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno CAAM in Las Palmas (Spain) in January 2017. Nicène's work has been recently acquired by The British Museum.